This article was originally published by KQED.
It’s official: The federal government has been shut for nearly a week after Congress failed to pass a stopgap funding bill in time.
Keep reading for how we know local agencies were preparing for the shutdown — and how life in the Bay Area could be impacted.
The impact on federal workers in the Bay Area
A report based on 2024 estimates by the House Budget Committee found that the federal government employs more than 187,000 Californians, making up about 1% of the state’s total workforce.
That ratio is roughly the same in the Bay Area, said Jeff Bellisario, executive director for the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. According to state labor data, about 12,500 federal workers lived in Alameda and Contra Costa counties as of August, down from 13,300 a year earlier.
“The federal government’s reach into the state of California is one that’s already relatively limited,” Bellisario said. “I don’t necessarily see this [shutdown] as being a huge impact there.”
The most obvious federal presence in Richmond is the Frank Hagel Federal Building downtown, but the Social Security Administration already announced in March that it’s departing that location, calling it “oversized” for its needs, with plans to relocate employees to the Ronald Dellums Federal Building in Oakland as part of an effort to save the government nearly $13 million in rent across a number of properties.
According to other experts, the scale of a shutdown’s impact will rely heavily on how President Donald Trump’s administration handles the shutdown.
The government decides which federal workers are designated essential — “which means they are expected to continue to work at their job despite the fact that they’re not going to get paid,” said Christopher Thornberg, the founding partner of economic research firm Beacon Economics. “Much of it depends on exactly what [jobs] Trump decides to call essential versus non-essential.”
Usually, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget determines that distinction. This week, OMB Director Russell Vought released a memo threatening mass layoffs for federal employees working in programs that are “not consistent with the president’s priorities,” should a shutdown occur. And when it comes to federal workers who aren’t laid off but who still have their paychecks stopped, many families around the state will be financially affected.
In the absence of further guidance from the White House, keep reading for how we know local agencies are preparing for the shutdown — and how life in the Bay Area could be impacted.
Nutrition program for women, children at risk
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, people receiving health care coverage through Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act can expect regular service, even during a shutdown. Social Security payments will likely still be issued. And those awarded homeless assistance grants through the Department of Housing and Urban Development can expect to continue receiving assistance.
But other programs could be in jeopardy, depending on how long the shutdown lasts. Steve Berg, the nonprofit’s chief policy officer, said any other social service programs that require attention from federal officials might be impacted.
A food aid program that helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children will run out of federal money within two weeks unless the government shutdown ends, forcing states to use their own money to keep it afloat or risk it shutting down, experts say.
The $8 billion Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, provides vouchers to buy infant formula as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk and other healthy staples that are often out of financial reach for low-income households.
The shutdown, which began Wednesday, coincided with the beginning of a new fiscal year, meaning programs like WIC, which rely on annual infusions from the federal government, are nearly out of money. Currently, the program is being kept afloat by an $150 million contingency fund, but experts say it could run dry quickly.
Advice for California WIC recipients
The California Department of Public Health posted a recent update about federal funding during the government shutdown. Here is some of their recommendations:
- Continue to use your WIC benefits. Use your WIC food benefits at WIC-authorized stores as usual. Your WIC food benefits can help you stretch your food dollars.
- Keep attending your WIC appointments. Families should continue attending their scheduled WIC appointments. WIC will continue to help you get healthy foods, nutrition tips, breastfeeding support, and referrals.
- Stay in contact with your WIC office. Your local WIC office can offer you support and guidance. (For west Contra Costa County, this is in San Pablo.)
- Check the MyFamily website. Visit this website regularly for updates and announcements. WIC will keep participants informed of any changes to services.
- Check the California WIC App. Download and check the California WIC App for alerts, appointment reminders, and your food benefits.
After that, states could step in to pay for the program and seek reimbursement when a budget finally passes, but not all states say they can afford to do so.
“We feel good about one to two weeks,” said Ali Hard, policy director for the National WIC Association. “After that, we are very worried.”
If nonprofits are trying to get grants or yearly contracts renewed while the government is shut down, those programs could also be halted, Berg said.
“If the people who you go back and forth with about doing that aren’t in the office,” he said, an organization’s funding “could be delayed as a result of the shutdown.”
During the first Trump administration, the United States experienced the longest government shutdown in history, clocking in at 35 days. Officials working for Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-10) said that in the event of another shutdown of this length, five million Californians who are beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could eventually lose access to their funds. WIC, another nutrition program geared toward women, infants and children — which serves more than 972,400 Californians — could also be impacted in that scenario.
Berg said that if you’re receiving assistance from federal programs, you should reach out to your local office for more clarity on what to expect.
Court dates during a possible shutdown
According to a memo released last week by Judge Robert Conrad, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Judiciary could sustain operations only through Friday, relying on fee balances and appropriations.
In previous shutdowns, the American Immigration Lawyers Association has encouraged people to check with local lawyers and legal groups, particularly regarding ICE enforcement, hearings and removal operations.
Courts already have a backlog of immigration cases nationally. When case hearings have to be rescheduled, it only furthers that backlog and could impact an immigrant’s ability to mount a successful defense against deportation.
You can visit the Department of Justice’s immigration court status locator to see if your local court is being impacted by the shutdown. As of Tuesday, the Concord location was open.
Air travel interrupted at Burbank Monday
Dozens of flights were delayed or cancelled Monday at Hollywood Burbank Airport after its air traffic control tower was temporarily unmanned due to staffing shortages amid the ongoing government shutdown.
A TSA spokesperson said last week that about 61,000 of the agency’s 64,000 employees “are considered excepted or exempt and TSA will continue operations to keep the traveling public safe” — with the agency’s remaining employees temporarily furloughed.
“While TSA is prepared to continue screening about 2.5M passengers a day, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” warned the spokesperson.
Officials at the Bay Area’s major airports said they are relying on distinctions made during previous shutdowns.
Doug Yakel, a spokesperson for the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), said last week that federal workers within the airport like air traffic controllers and customs agents — as well as health workers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation — would be considered “essential” and would have to continue working without pay. As during previous shutdown threats, this does raise the possibility that these staff may call in sick, potentially causing delays.
SFO’s bagging and screening is done by a private company under contract with TSA and would continue to be paid during the shutdown.
The Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK) is following similar guidelines. “We don’t expect any screening or air traffic control services to be interrupted,” OAK spokesperson David DeWitt said.
San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) spokesperson Julie Jarrett said that the airport currently had “no information indicating that SJC will be impacted by a potential government shutdown,” but that staff were “staying in close contact with our local partners and monitoring the situation closely as it unfolds.”
According to the Federal Aviation Agency, field training of air traffic controllers, random drug testing, financial operations and other activities would halt during a government shutdown.
Rosie visitor center is among national park shutdowns
As Richmondside reported on Friday, the Rosie the Riveter visitor center is among many national parks that have been closed due to the shutdown.
According to an internal NPS memo by email, national park sites that can be made physically inaccessible to the public will be closed, while sites with roads and trails that are accessible to the public will remain open.
An expanded version of the NPS plan posted online estimated more than 9,000 of the agency’s 14,500 employees are expected to be furloughed in the event of a shutdown.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which manages many of the Bay Area’s national park sites, has released a list of which parks are closed as of last week and which will remain open. They include:
- Muir Woods National Monument: Closed
- Alcatraz Island: Temporarily closed Wednesday but “reopening for its regular schedule on Oct. 2 with all facilities OPEN”
- Fort Point: Interior, parking lot and Long Avenue and Marine Drive closed, with restrooms open
- China Beach: Closed
- Ocean Beach: Sloat Blvd parking lot closed, with bathrooms open
- Stinson Beach: Parking lot closed, with bathrooms open
- Muir Beach and Muir Beach Overlook: Parking lot closed, with bathrooms open.
Point Reyes National Seashore is open but with certain bathroom closures.
A spokesperson for the Presidio, which is financially independent from NPS, said that site would remain fully open to the public.
Advocates for America’s national parks have expressed alarm at the last-minute nature of this planning for park closures. Superintendents were only informed during a meeting late Tuesday afternoon about which sites would remain open — followed by the email memo shortly after — according to Jesse Chakrin, executive director of the Fund for People in Parks, an advocacy group that works with small or lesser-known parks in the West.
Chakrin said this is the tightest turnaround for shutdown planning he’s seen by a large margin. “They’re asking for each park unit to make a plan, including staffing numbers and associated costs for a shutdown, which is happening in hours,” he said.
Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said she and other advocates were concerned the Trump administration would try to keep all parks open through any 2025 shutdown. That prompted the group to author a letter, signed by 40 former National Park superintendents, calling for parks to be closed.
“Leaving national parks open without National Park staff to help protect visitors and resources is not only irresponsible — it’s dangerous,” Thompson wrote in a statement to KQED. “We don’t leave museums open without curators, or airports without air traffic controllers and we should not leave our National Parks open without NPS employees.”
“Without adequate staff, if somebody gets in trouble in the backcountry, for instance, it’s going to take a lot longer to get to them and deal with it,” said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers.
With NPS staffing already down by an estimated 24% at parks, the likelihood of poaching and vandalism would rise even further in the event of an unstaffed shutdown, said Wade, pointing to destruction of trees at Joshua Tree National Park during the 2019 shutdown. Wade said he’s also worried that parks staff won’t just get furloughed, but are also at risk of being fired outright, after Trump directed agencies to prepare for mass firings should the shutdown occur.
No Blue Angels during Fleet Week
San Francisco’s Fleet Week celebration — which was supposed to start on Sunday — will go on during the shutdown. But it’s losing its premier guests: the Blue Angels, as well as visiting Navy and Marine Corps officers.
According to news reports, however, the Canadian Snowbirds, the acrobatic demonstration fleet from the Royal Canadian Air Force, are being brought in to save the day.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said his office is “monitoring” the shutdown and remains in contact with federal leaders on any updates.
“Our Sailors and Marines look forward to participating in the unparalleled training and outreach events Fleet Week provides,” the Navy said in a statement, adding that the branch of the armed forces would be disappointed if it has to sit out the event.
“Our hope is for a swift decision on a funding bill.”
KQED’s Carly Severn, Scott Shafer, Marisa Lagos, Berkeleyside staff, Richmondside editor Kari Hulac and the Associated Press contributed reporting. An earlier version of this story was published on Sept. 30.
